Zetov Bamba

Will this be a hit or a "Bamba"? (Sorry)

 

The Attraction:
I recently started shopping at a supermarket that caters to the Jewish community. They happen to offer good pricing on fruits and vegetables, so while I was in there picking up a few items, I thought it would only makes sense to check out the snack aisle. While feasting my eyes on all these snack brands I had never heard of before, I came across this little treat. Having no mention of cheese flavor, I was intrigued as to what this treasure might taste like since it so closely resembles a Cheez Doodle, without the cheez.

The Review
I was really wondering what on earth this thing would taste like. For those of you that have had a Cheez Doodle before, close your eyes for a second. Imagine that crunch before the rush of cheese flavor hits your tongue. Now take away that cheese flavor. How would you imagine that same snack item would taste? I had certainly had no clue, but the idea that the packaging says "tasty corn snacks" somehow made me think it might be like a corn chip from a Mexican restaurant. Oh..the excitement!

I open the package and inhaled deeply from the bag. I didn't smell anything. "Even more curious", I think to myself. I take a peek in the bag and sure enough, the Bambas look like slightly smaller, naked Cheez Doodles. Enough of this foreplay. It's time to get to it.

I pick a lucky Bamba out of the bag and bite into it. Same type of a crunch one would expect from a snack that looks like this, but the flavor is subtle...and well, frankly unexpected. What is this flavor I'm tasting? It's familiar, but my mind is flipping out. I take another piece and my brain finally nails it; peanut! What!?

Am I high? Peanut flavor? There's no mention of peanut flavor on the front packaging!? I quickly turn the bag over to see the list of ingredients and there it is in black and white. "Peanuts". It even precedes corn on the list of ingredients, yet there's no mention of it or it's flavor anywhere in site, other than on the listing of ingredients. I'm not quite sure what to think...

I'm like a naked cheez puff

The Sweet:

The crunch is nice, yet didn't seem to have an oily feel like some fried corn snacks do. It also boasts about not having any artificial flavor or coloring adding. Perhaps even more impressively, this snack is comprised of only 4 ingredients; Peanuts, corn, palm oil and salt. It's mild flavor will let you polish off a bag without much of a thought. It is also amazing affordable. My bag cost only 50 cents.

The Bitter:
It's a total mind freak! Of all the flavors I was expecting, peanut was not one of them.When was the last time you had a fried chip of some sort that taste of peanuts? It wasn't bad, but frankly I think I may have it enjoyed it more if they turned up the peanut flavor.

"It's like you don't know me at all!"

Conclusion:
Zetov's Bamba is one of the many reasons why I love trying new and different snacks from other cultures and regions. Although this particular item didn't set my taste buds ablaze with excitement, it threw a curve ball to my expectations and after having so many snacks over the years, the unexpected can be a really good thing.

I won't be venturing out anytime soon to pickup a bag of Bamba for myself, but with it's short list of pronounceable ingredients and mild flavor, this would be a snack I would be comfortable giving to the little ones vs some of the main stream snack items lining the supermarket shelves.

Video of the Week
Here I am this American guy trying out all this snacks from other parts of world.

I wonder what, umm...let's say Korean girls think of American snacks? Wonder no more!

 (Thanks Grace for the video suggestion!)

"I would like to date Paul"
(not a direct translation)

Imei Choco Roll Green Tea

"Anything less would be unciviled"

 

The Attraction:
An intern at my place of work likes to bring in snacks and to my surprise, she brought in a variation of a snack I have previously tried and reviewed. "Maybe it's time I revisit this baby.", I thought to myself.

Will I "Roll with It" this time?

The Review
Ah, it's hard to believe that it was almost three years ago that I had my first Choco Roll. Although my feelings were mixed at the time, I still had reservations about ever buying another package of Choco Roll again. It's not that it was bad, just not for me, I thought. Well, now with no monetary investment needed, there was a chance for this product to be reexamined and have it potentially redeem itself.

The Choco Roll was larger than I recalled. It's almost the circumference of a roll of US dimes. After I cracked open the individually wrapped roll, I was surprised to see the white chocolate coating on the outside of the roll. I barely recall that the rolls come dipped in chocolate. Intriguing...

I snap into it and there's that initial taste of white chocolate, but that is quickly forgotten as the taste of green tea hits you like a Mack truck. There is no doubt that this is green tea flavored. As my friend put it, "It's like sucking on a green tea stick." Yes, that's quite accurate.

Still not quite sure what to think....

Caution: Green tea dynamite inside!

The Sweet:

It's a nice size roll that makes it feel like an actual snack. The white chocolate / green tea combo is a tried and true combo for me. The green tea flavor is delivered without the occasional bitterness that some snack makers decide to leave in. The sweetness of the white chocolate is cut by the green tea flavor...

The Bitter:
...when I say cut, I mean with something like a machete! The green tea flavor is overwhelming to me. It's not bad, per se, but it comes across as unbalanced against the sweetness of the white chocolate.

"Boom!"

Conclusion:
Imei, the makers of the Choco Roll, has continued to confuse me with this product. Mellowing out the green tea flavor would have helped delivered a more even snack experience. As it probably goes without saying, you should be a fan of green tea flavor before considering picking up this roll.

I do have to admit, after I polished the roll, I was tempted to grab another one, but that may be also because I didn't have to pay anything out of pocket if I wanted to have another one.

The true test for me has always been would I pay to have that snack item again. In the case of the Choco Roll, there would not be a return engagement with my shopping cart.

Video of the Week
I heard about this video a few weeks ago after hearing about it on the Howard Stern show.

No matter where you stand on the gay issue, I think we can all agree that we are not as convinced as this young man is that he has been "delivered" from being gay.

"I'm not gay anymore!"

FF Co Durian Flavored Cracker

How bad could it be?

The Attraction:
Several months ago, my pal Grace asks me to review a durian flavored snack, as she has never had a durian before in her life. Up to this point, I haven't been able to find anything that looked remotely appealing and didn't come in a huge bag in case it was awful. Wait no more! Enter Fashion Food Co'S Durian Flavored Crackers!

Looks innocent, doesn't it?

The Review
I have had a mixed history with the much maligned fruit, the Durian. The first time I had it was almost 20 years ago with my Grandmother in Atlanta. She loved durians, but they were hard to come by in Sweden, where she normally resides. So, my beloved Uncle George bought her a durian to enjoy while we were visiting him. Up to that point, I had had a durian either, but my Grandmother recruited me to help hack it open to get to the edible portion of the fruit. As I took a butcher knife to this sucker and cracked it open, the smell that durian produces is like no other. It's best described as something severely rotten. Despite that, my Grandmother dove right in and enjoyed it. She convinced me to try some too...and surprisingly, I liked it! It reminded me a bit of a creamy mango at the time.

Fast forward to a few years back when I was at a random wedding with Ivy in Taiwan and at the sign-in table was a seemingly innocent looking piece of durian flavored hard candy sitting in a sea of assorted treats. "I'll give that a try.", I thought. About 2 minutes into it, I had to spit it out cause the taste made me nauseous.

Which was my "real" feeling about durian?

As I cautiously opened the bag of crackers, the signature rotten smell of the durian was present. They captured the essence so well, that the deep whiff I took was like an uppercut to my face. "That's just the smell", I kept telling myself. "It'll taste better than that, just like it did in Atlanta", I thought. I dig in and like any respectable cracker, there is a good crunch and there is a sweetness that helps nullify some of that putrid smell. It reminded me of a Kellogg's Corn Pop, minus some of the sweetness. Still, that smell...argh. I realized it was too late for me. I had already developed a bad neural association with that smell and about 2 pieces in, I had to stop as my stomach begin to turn from the stench.

Durian, au natural

The Sweet:

I suppose if you liked the flavor of durian, this would work for you. After the smell of the durian passed, the cracker had a pleasant sweet taste to it. This product does a good job of capturing that durian essence (maybe too good of a job for me).

The Bitter:
It taste like durian! It's not a fair review because that's what it's suppose to taste like, but for me, it's too big of a hurdle for me to overcome.

"shudder"

Conclusion:
I have no complaints about this product, other than it taste exactly as advertised. Unfortunately, for me, it's a flavor I don't enjoy or rather, a smell I want to puke at the very thought of smelling again.

If you enjoy durian, I think you will be pleasantly surprised by these crackers, but if you don't, stay far away! This item is for a very specific audience and not for the faint of heart.

Video of the Week
This video is on a topic near and dear to my heart. I first tried a bidet in Japan about 8 years ago. It was magical. I recommend you try one too, but don't just take my word for it. Let these people share their first experience with you.

Her "B" face

Rum Coconut Patties

Did someone say rum?!

The Attraction:
I've seen these dang things around for years, mainly around the airports and souvenir shops around Florida. I've never bought any for anyone nor for myself cause although I like coconut, I've never been able to commit myself to giving someone something in which I've never tried or had a better idea of what it tastes like. Well, when a co-coworker recently returned from a trip from the Sunshine State with these and the Key Lime version in tow, this was the perfect time to sample these little buggers.

How many of these would I need
to eat to get a buzz, from rum, that is

The Review
Anastasia Confections makes these patties with assorted varieties and each of the two flavors I have on-hand, rum and key lime, come with 12 individually wrapped patties. I opt to try the rum version first. Let the party begin!

I tear open the clear cellophane wrapping and the smell of rum is quite clear. "Gee, I hope the rum flavor isn't too strong", I think to myself, and thankfully after my first bite, it's clear that the rum flavor isn't over-powering. The sweetness, on the other hand, whoa!

It's what you would imagine a rum-coconut patty might taste like. The addition of the rum does do a great job of maintaining the moisture of the patty itself. The chocolate also adds a nice contrast both textually as well as add some dimension flavor-wise.I take another bite.....sure enough....it's still dang sweet....too much so.

Looks like a slice of miniature cake with a chocolate frosting, no?

The Sweet:
The moisture is perfect in these patties. I really dislike dry coconut, but these patties hit it right on the money. The rum works! The partial chocolate coating is also a seemingly small detail, but overall nets a huge gain as it works wonders both on your taste buds and the sensation in your mouth as you chew into one of these patties.

The Bitter:
Its really sweet. Perhaps almost about 20%-40% too much so. It's the type of sweetness that makes you stop wanting to have an additional piece after you polish one patty off.  Perhaps even stop wanting sweets in general for a bit.

The room started to spin...from the sugar high!

Conclusion:
Although these rum coconut patties do a wonderful job of maintaining a nice balance of moistness and an ideal ratio of chocolate to patty, the overwhelming sweetness makes this product difficult to recommend. With that said, this probably is an ideal souvenir; most folks will just grab one, feel satisfied, and not wish to have another one again for some time.

Perhaps the key lime version will rate more favorably? Hmm....we'll have to wait and see.

Video of the Week
Something a bit different this week. I know Christmas just passed, but here's a feel-good clip about a lad named Patrick that was unable to communicate for much of his young life. He was born deaf and his village didn't have a school that taught sign-language, so he sat in silence, until recently.

Happy Patrick!

Dongguan Hsu Fu Chi Strawberry Sandwich Cookie

I, too, can only understand Strawberry Sandwich Cookie.
That and 50% of something

The Attraction:
Knowing I had an upcoming holiday week ahead of me, I searched desperately to find a snack that I would hope I would like while I was home hibernating for the next few days. Last week I found myself at the Asian grocer again when I came across this. Look how delicious those strawberries look in the lower-right-hand corner. Even at that, it didn't really jump out at me, but it's OK. Like closing time at a bar, sometimes you don't get exactly what you are looking for, but what looks good enough for that moment. Hello, Ms. Strawberry Sandwich Cookie...

I'm hoping that says "Yummy stuff inside"

The Review
The Nestle company recently bought a majority share of the Dongguan Hsu Fu Chi, which in China, is the 2nd largest snack company next to Mars. I didn't know all that before picking up a package, but it did seem to give it some "street cred" after finding that out. Nestle has got to know a good thing when they see it, right? Let's find out...

Upon opening up the package, I find that there were single individually-wrapped servings within the packaging tray. Not unusual and it usually works out pretty well if a company is trying to maintain freshness in it's product. Next, I tear open the single serving wrapper and it reveals something that looks very similar to the famed Pineapple cakes from Taiwan; a crumbly shortbread exterior. For those uninitiated, think of a shortbread outside on a Fig Newton, but encased on all sides. Hmm...I'm not crazy about those pineapple cakes, but who knows if they taste the same?

 I finally dig in; the texture of the outer layer is the same of that of a pineapple cake. It's a drier and denser shortbread that yields to the thick strawberry gel inside. My suspicions were right, this is exactly a pineapple cake, but with a strawberry filling. Yay?

"What's up, shorty?"

The Sweet:
If you are a fan of Pineapple Cakes, but want to venture into different flavors, welcome to your Nirvana! The Hsu Fu Chi Company does a great job of recreating all the signature components of a Pineapple Cake; crumbly, dry shortbread on the outside and fruit-flavored filling on the inside.

The Bitter:
You have to like pineapple cakes or at least like shortbread. Although I recognize that I'm not a good person to review a product like this since it's so similar to another product I don't like, I do see how fans of these types of snacks could enjoy this. Just not "moi", as the folks at Nestle might say.

It does look rather like a Fig Newton, doesn't it?

Conclusion:
For me, shortbread is good on it's own. When you throw in a fruit jelly of some sort, in theory, one might think that would counter the dryness of the shortbread, but for me, this item just reminds me how dry it is....and I hate really dry sweet snacks.

Somehow, this makes me appreciate Fig Newtons even more. They use a moister exterior and wisely only encase the fig filling on two sides. Dang, now I want a Fig Newton....and if you are like me, maybe you should get one too instead of this product.

Update: Maybe I like these more than I thought. I polished off half the box already!

Video of the Week
In case you were wondering what to get me this year. I won't hold it against you if it's a little late.

Someone pinch me

Holiday Snack-Fest

I know I'm late in posting a review this week, but don't fret. There will be several updates this week due to all this free time at home for the holidays! Gosh forbid if I did something other than snack a lot.

Wheat Thins Zesty Salsa

Just how "zesty" is zesty? 

The Attraction:
I love Wheat Thins! My pal Phil introduced it to me over 15 years ago. I never thought to try it as it struck me as some sort of health food "thing" way back when.(that should give you an idea of how things have changed over the years). I've been keeping it pretty simple and avoiding many of the new flavors that Wheat Thins have been offering, but when I saw a "two for" deal at the supermarket, I thought it was a fine time to live a little, take a walk on the wild side, fly without a net....OK, you get the idea.

The Review
I take a deep whiff as I tear open the bag within the Wheat Thins box and sure enough, there is a smell of salsa in there. I'm amazed at how Nabisco was able to capture the smell of salsa on a cracker. I take a bite and I wasn't sure what to expect; does "zesty" imply hot? A strong flavor of some sort? As I work my way through my first chip, it reminds me of a Taco Bell hard shell taco, but not just the shell, the whole taco, with sauce! I take a few more chips and an air of familiarity strikes me. It takes a few more pieces after that before I can place it; it also taste like a mild Cool Ranch Dorito!

Looks the same, but do I taste good?

The Sweet:
The flavor is great! Think a Taco Bell hard shell taco crossed with a Cool Ranch Dorito (minus some salt) and that's what this Wheat Thin tastes like. Incidentally, I like Cool Ranch Doritos and Taco Bell, in case you couldn't tell. I think I just showed my hand...

The Bitter:
Nothing that jumps out at me. Perhaps a clearer idea of what the "zesty" part is in "Zesty Salsa". I get the salsa part clearly, the zesty part, not so much. It's not spicy (which I actually would have liked, but I understand why they didn't tack that on), and the flavor doesn't particularly have a strong "kick" to it. Salsa: check. Zesty: MIA. To add to the confusion, there is also a Ranch flavored Wheat Thin. If this taste like Cool Ranch to me, what the heck will that taste like?

"Guess where you are going"

Conclusion:
Nabisco does a fine job on this flavor variation of one of their snack standards, Wheat Thins. In a crowded snack aisle, it manages to carve out a specific flavor without going way outside of the "flavor" box. In fact, I enjoyed this Zesty Salsa flavor so much, it has opened my mind up to try their other Wheat Thins flavor variations. Perhaps Ranch so I can distinguish the two or Spicy Buffalo so I can get that spicy kick I was wanting with this product. I feel like that's exactly what Nabisco wants! Well played, Wheat Thins people, well played.

Video of the Week
Working on finding a good one...